12 rock tracks, imbued with noise. Additional RVC (‘Review Content’) available below.
With Conflict DLC, HEALTH did not make a stand alone album, but created something brimming with context. HEALTH has contributed to several different video game soundtracks, and seemed to draw from that background as it’s presented as a DLC, or additional ‘Downloadable Content,’ for their 2023 album, Rat Wars. Rat Wars has an A and B side, while Conflict DLC gets the C and D sides. The album is intense and emotional, while being technically solid. It makes a great full-album listen, or just pick individual songs to add to your favorite electronic noise rock playlist.
The album starts off with an echoey phrase from vocalist Jake Duzsik to drop the song’s title, “Into dirt, into dust / It’s an ordinary loss” before jumping dramatically into an aggressive combination of electric guitar and drums, thundering away. The vocals and instrumentals fade back and forth, trading off which one takes the focus. Whenever Duzsik comes back in to repeat that intro, the percussion almost fades away entirely. The tempo stays upbeat aside from these pauses, relentless drums rushing the song forward. Near the end, the song begins to collapse into a breakdown, layered screams come through and the tempo changes, getting syncopated and growing static until it fades out for the next number.
Many of the transitions between songs are fluid, such as “TRASH DECADE,” starting out by strumming the final chord of “VIBE COP” one last time. Although, the transition between tracks five and six may beat out the rest. Track five, “TORTURE II” is an instrumental, and almost seems to be the bridge from torture ‘too’ antidote. The rest of the album never strays too far away from HEALTH’s industrial sound, it does begin to embrace the quiet. Where the first half of the album was angry and defiant, the latter half comes into acceptance. “ANTIDOTE” comes in with the same echoey melody of “TORTURE II,” but begins to bring in vocals and a pressing beat. The lyrics are dark leading into the chorus, “You said you can’t live / But I know you won’t / Die (x4) / Without me.” The song fades out with a switching off sound to signal it’s time to flip to the D Side.
“THOUGHT LEADER” gradually increases, starting with a relatively clear keyboard that gets a bit of distortion before dropping into a fuller rock sound with vocals. By the end of the number, the vocals have become completely overwhelmed in static noise and distortion, descending into layered screams. The lyric “It’s all in your head” is audible amidst the noise, then it all fades away to finish the line with “Or not.” The sound difference dramatically emphasizes the phrase, bringing listeners to ponder on the clarity brought by those last two words.
The last song, “WASTED YEARS,” is also by far the longest track, coming in at almost six and a half minutes. This track pulls back on the electric guitar a bit, only bringing it in to really pack a bunch. The phrasing is balanced, clear vocals introduce an instrumental break “How is it always gone?” The ending leans metal, with harsh staccato strumming laid directly on top of drum beats, savoring the moment of silence between them. The last 90 seconds play a faint version of the melody playing over quiet B-roll sounds of an audience, giving the track a live quality.
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